86 and Counting
by BlueDolphin2011
Summary: What if something happens when you can't do anything but there's nothing you can do? What if that something is death? What if that something takes a piece of you with them? What now? Deticated to my passed Uncle Raymond.
1. Chapter 1

_You know that feeling?_

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When everything that you thought was perfect,

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was just fine,

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was comfortable,

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was worth living,

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was loved and loving,

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just disappeares?

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When your whole safe place just explodes around you leaving you standing alone . 

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Surrounded by pieces of your on contentment.

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They were covered up by anger, hatred and just downright times of sadness.

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and now they mean the whole world to you...

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Those pieces…

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Just evaporate…

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Have you ever felt those pieces shatter

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All because of one person

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who just disappears.

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Into thin air.

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Just like that.

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I have.

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It hurts.

My uncle passed today, go easy on me.


	2. Riley

_R/R please_

I'm an OG ya heard. I don't be out here just shedding tears and shit like a little bitch. I keeps it real. I mean, what's tears gon' do. It ain't like it's gon' bring the nigga back. All that nigga did was whup me for the stupidest shit in the world. So what if I almost burnt the house down when I was 5 and 7. And it don't even matter that I almost wrecked Dorothy last year when I was 13. It didn't get wrecked so what the fuck? Than nigga was way over the hill anyway, like in his 80s. So what if he got sick? So what? I can't do nothing no way. He was an old… old nigga. He dead. I can't change it, but why?

Don't get me wrong, I never said I hated the nigga. I just said I don't care that he dead. But why? I mean, where we gon' go now. Aunt Cookie dead and now this nigga dun' gone off somewhere like some kinda Batman o' some shit. Why he leave us like this? Why old-ass Mrs. Von Heusen still alive and MY Granddad gotta go? That shit ain't fair. Her old ass coulda been ol' girl's GRANDMAMA on the Titanic (not that I watched that shit) and on top of that she's a racist hoe that tries to kill little kids when she don't get her way. At least Granddad didn't try to kill no body. He wasn't that bad.

He was belt-maniac. But he did always give us what we wanted. He may have lost his temper in a second but he had one of those limited and hidden 'soft spots' for us. Now that's how the nigga was betta than me in one way, 'cause I ain't got no soft spots for nobody. I'm a hardass. Ain't anybody gettin' in my mind or my heart.

I still remember that one day he brought that sitter home…

"_Granddad we don't need babysitter," I told him. It didn't make no sense that he was still getting' us a babysitter. One, we wasn't babies, well… Huey was but still. Two, all they do is leave early anyways. Three, they was too scared we was gon' kill 'em or somethin'. It didn't make no sense._

"_Well, I have a date this weekend and I refuse to leave you two alone so that you can fuck up my house. Maybe you'll find her to be you're type. I met her last night and she's had a few 'troubles' in her past. So listen to everything she says," he commanded as the door bell rung. "There she is now."_

_He opened the front door a girl… a BLACK girl. Wow, that was a first. She looked like she was a teenager 'cause she was kinda short, but she wasn't forcin' out one of them Jim Carey smiles. She looked like she wasn't forcing nothin' at all._

_I know it shouldn't be surprising that Grandad would bring a complete stranger into the house. But it was weird cause he brought her without expecting to get busy wit' her. _

_That nigga better than me. I woulda left her ass in the streets._

I guess he was a good person under them layers old ass niggadom.

He only told us he loved us once in a while. But when he did you could see it in his eyes. I wish I woulda said more to him before he passed.

It hurts ya know. 'Cause even though I don't let nobody in my mental mind, it don't mean I don't got no feelings. I…loved him. He was my granddad. And now he gone.

He gone. Why him? Why my granddad? Why?

I told myself not to cry. But … I can't help it.

Damn, I guess I don't have to be hard all the time.

I love you Granddad.

No homo.


	3. Chapter 2

"Mr. Dubois, Mr. Freeman and… Mr. Freeman… Mr. Free_men_?"

"Don't be funny honkey."

"Huey! I'm sorry Mr. Nilrac, continue."

"O… K. Um. Where was I?" the absent minded white man scanned his desk as if the answer would suddenly pop up on it. He searched for a good 10 seconds before he snapped his head up in an epiphany, "Oh yeah."

He cleared his throat and rearranged his large bifocals, "Your grandfather left his will," he picked up a remote, "Via video."

The medium-sized TV screen to the man's left flickered and turned into a screen of scattered black and white snow. Frustrated, Mr. Nilrac rose from his large desk and crossed the room to bring up his short leg and give the TV a surprisingly hard kick. The TV sputtered like a stubborn engine and buzzed to life with a blue screen. Satisfied, he traveled back to his seat smoothing out his handlebar mustache. Mr. Nilrac pressed play on the remote controller to the DVD. A man in a green sweater came on the screen.

Riley, unable to look at the screen, averted his eyes in his brother's, who stared at the screen. It was always easier for his brother to hold himself together when things like this happened. In some odd way, Riley envied his Huey. He was brave, unwilling to yield and strong. He was his constant. His rock.

Huey stared at the 14-year-old's red eyes that threatened to succumb to the wetness again. It had been 72 hours since Granddad's passing and he hadn't stopped looking sad since. Well, until this morning when Tom took them to this guy to hear his last will, testament and final inheritance. It had been rough on Riley, considering he and Granddad were like best friends when he didn't mess up his money, house, relationship or reputation. After all of their crazy mishaps with women, cars and a slew of extremely odd schemes, losing the one person that put up with nearly all of these things could tear a person up inside. It was like he lost his partner in crime.

Riley had made it a point to be hard and try to act as if it didn't affect him, but everyone knew better. Especially Huey.

"Hello, boys. If you're watching this I'm already dead and waiting to go six-feet under. Now, I wouldn't done this 'vio' video is paper wasn't out of style. You'll burn up a little piece of paper along with the house but this video wil be really, really hard to lose. So _heh_." Granddad crossed his arms and appeared to be proud of himself for being modern. The smallest of smiles came to Huey's face. He never thought he'd missed his Grandfather's odd philosophy on… everything.

The granddad on the screen sitting on the couch picked up a piece of paper on the coffee table and adjusted his glasses. "OK, money will be equally divided among my two grandsons, Huey Percy Freeman and Riley Curtis Freeman. My stock-,"

"Stock? He had stock?"

"Yes I had stock, boy!" Huey stared at the screen in shock. How did he- well he was nearly 90 years old. So it did make sense that he knew his grandchildren better than he let on. "Stop interrupting!

"As I was saying before I was _rudely _interrupted by a certain grandson of mine." Riley lifted his head and looked at the screen. He sounded like the same old Granddad.

"My stocks, which I _do _have, thank you very much, goes to Huey Percy Freeman."

"Hey!"

"Riley you know you don't know shit about stock, let alone what to do with it! Now stop all that damn hollerin'!" He squinted at the piece of paper and brought it close to his face. "The house and property will be given to Riley Curtis Freeman. He and his brother will co-own until he turns 18. Then, the house will fully belong to him."

The younger Freeman grew a smile on his face and looked up at Huey, who stared the screen confused.

"Now, don't go thinkin' I abandoned one of ya. I hate you both equally," Granddad laughed at his own joke and balanced back at the paper, still chuckling. "Now there's a few bank account that I've been saving up since I found out my baby girl was pregnant. You two's separate college funds."

Both boys jaws dropped while Tom developed a small smile on his face. "Tom is in control of those accounts because I don't trust ya. Go spend it on some spinnin' rims or some damn books! Back in my day you could go to college, medical school and still have some money left over with what I gave you. So, don't go fuckin' around with it!"

Riley began to open his mouth but was cut off by Robert, "And don't you even _think _about doin' that, 'I ain't goin' to college, Granddad' bullshit! You too damn smart and talented to be 'in the streets'! Hell, you not even a talented _gangsta, _you need to do somethin' you good at!"

Riley stared in shock at the screen at Granddad though Huey seemed to not even be phased by the outburst. Truth be told, Riley was a hell of a lot smarter than he gave himself credit for. He had potential.

"OK for the funeral, I want to be buried in a purple casket with my green sweater. I know its tacky, but hell if I'm gon' be dead I at least wanna be comfortable! Shit, man lives to 84, he wants to die happy.

"That brings me to my eulogy…" Huey listened intently for this subject. He'd expected for Granddad to ask him to 'be deep' at the funeral just like he did at Aunt Cookie's and that friend of his. Mo or something.

"I want you to do it Riley."

"What?" Everyone in the room stared at the TV in shock at the late man's decision. Riley was talented but…really?

He should've known that there was a catch to getting half of Granddad's inheritance and his house. Was he trying to purposely embarrass him? Did he secretly hate him? Riley knew better, but at the moment he was at lost for a logical thought.

"I read your little book you had," Granddad held up a thick, red spiral notebook that he had hid behind his back. Tom and Huey looked at the boy sitting in the middle of them who held his head in shame. They weren't supposed to every find out about that. "Don't act surprised. You ain't never had no privacy in _my _house. Anyways, I read this and… we all know that Huey's smart. He's intelligent, got a bright future ahead of him, articulate and can write one hell of a speech."

Riley looked up at his slightly taller brother, who didn't seemed phased by the praise from his grandfather. He'd heard all his life how smart Huey was. How reserved he was. 'Why are you so different? Why couldn't you be more like your brother?'

"But son, I want the world to know that I have two smart grandsons. Make me proud," and with that he presses a remote and the screen turned to a fuzzy static of black and white.

'Make me proud.'

"Good luck, man," Huey said with his eyes closed. He didn't face him or bother to put an emotion into his voice, but he knew that that was the only motivation he would get out of him. It was easy for him, it wasn't up to him to make everyone's final memory of their grandfather and embedded miracle and not a complete disaster. The writing part was easy but, in reality, although he went around yelling and making a fuss in public, the thing that scared him the most was public speaking. And even worse, emotional public speaking.

Riley looked up at his stoic brother. If only it were that easy to get through this. To just act as if it didn't bother you.

'Make me proud.'

'_I'll try.'_


End file.
